More Fun With Elise Brakes

At the 4/17/08 LOOP fun-in (you can hardly call all the fun a meeting!), we had a parking lot post fun discussion on brake pad replacement for the Elise. I had just done mine early that week. Cost was modest. Pads were $174 for EBC Reds (attached is the invoice from Anything.com – only one with free shipping) and I got lucky and my buddy opened his Mercedes shop for me in the evening to use his lift and tools. It only took us less than one hour and he only asked for $75, which was ridiculously low so I forced him to accept an extra stipend and then after repair bubbles on me! BTW the Lotus shop wanted four times what it cost me!!! My heart stopped when they quoted me for pads and labor!

Attached are the “how to” references that we used. Some of the tips really made a quick job of this. Interestingly, my buddy Greg (Airpark Auto Clinic in Scottsdale Airpark – BTW this guy is an amazing mechanic, best I have ever come across, and I have owned 73 cars…yes, that is correct not a typo) was quick to inform me that the Brembo calipers and pads use the same mechanics as Mercedes and Infiniti. In fact he told me that the front pads of the Elise, are also cross referenced for the Infiniti cars and have a detent for the wear sensor that those cars have (which the Elise does not…got a keep is LIGHT!).

We did not have to bleed the brakes, since no fluid change has been done to the car, this save us a few minutes.

I learned:

…you cannot turn cross drilled rotors…unless you counter sink the holes. The sharp edge of the holes will break the Ti cutting pins. Typically, they are counter sunk from the factory, but with normal wear it is not long before the bevel is gone. Good news is that on car that light, warping is almost never a problem…

…the Elise jack points are horrifically imbalanced. We put the hydraulic lift onto the jack points and lifted the car…seemed pretty nice…however when I put VER LITTLE upward pressure on the front of the car, IT EASILY LIFTED OFF THE RACK!!!...scarey! We did lowered the car a few inches off the ground and did one wheel at a time.

The EBC Reds are shockingly more grippy than the stock pads. In fact, as a street driver I don’t like them because if you are at a crawl and put light pressure on the brake, it snaps to a stop. Braking under a load is amazing though, so it would be fun on the track!

Lastly, I will be putting my meticulously maintained 2005 yellow Elise up for sale and will be asking $35K, but for those loving LOOPers or their friends I will be much more understanding to the financial hardships that could prevent them for the life changing experience of owning a Lotus…Why…

…I want a new Lotus…